inspection
Last reviewed 01/2018
Inspection of the abdomen involves first looking from the foot of the bed along the length of the patient - asymmetry is easier to view from this vantage point. Closer inspection is then made.
Points to note include:
- symmetry
- scars
- pulsatile masses
- movements of abdominal wall with respiration
- distension - fat, faeces, flatus, foetus, tumour, phantom pregnancy
- caput Medusae, umbilicus
- visible peristalsis
- striae
An oblique light may be used to distinguish the shadows produced by masses moving across the abdomen with respiration.